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Does the opening "pling pling plinggg" of Bette Midler’s ‘The Rose’ fill you with existential dread? Do you cringe at the mere whiff of what Phil Collins is spewing ‘In the Air Tonight?’ Have you ever bolted from a restaurant because Celine Dion’s cover of ‘All By Myself’ was threatening to drive you over the edge? Well, turn around, bright eyes – because Tom Reynolds is here with I HATE MYSELF AND WANT TO DIE, a laugh-out-loud-til-you’re sobbing compendium of the world’s most hideously depressing pop songs – and a guide to what makes them so heartwrenchingly, earsplittingly sad and bad. With chapters like ‘I Was a Teenage Car Crash,’ ‘I’m Trying to be Profound and Touching but Really Suck At It,’ ‘Perfect Storms,’ and ‘I Mope, Therefore I Am,’ Reynolds details the history of melodic misery, from the days of Bobby Darin to the era of Evanescence. Complete with a ranked ‘Countdown of Doom’ and wonderfully dreary drawings, I HATE MYSELF AND WANT TO DIE is the one book that fans and foes of woeful tunes won’t want to live without....
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Love once inspired sonnets, plays, novels, and countless romantic songs. But romance can become obsession, and nowadays, love songs are creepier than ever. Even the Police’s stalker anthem “Every Breath You Take” is a popular choice at weddings and funerals. In Touch Me, I’m Sick, Tom Reynolds offers hilarious riffs on 52 love songs that have gone off the rails into the realm of the tawdry, the overwhelming, the obsessive, the self-absorbed, and the completely weird. Including songs by artists as diverse as Melissa Etheridge, Michael Jackson, Paul Anka, Sinéad O’Connor, and Slipknot, he also pillories a handful of the 1,700 different songs called “Butterfly.” Praise for Tom Reynolds’ I Hate Myself and Want to Die: "A tremendous idea . . . Reynolds ameliorates the pain of having put his ear up close to some of the most inconsiderate despair anthems of our time by having enormous fun deconstructing them." —The Sunday Times "Full of premium trivia and pinpoint pomposity-pricking, Reynolds has made comedy gold from the full base metal of misery." —NME "An entertaining and well-researched set of cautionary tales music fans will enjoy. Consider the list a batch of enthralling liner notes for a box set that comes with razor blades." —Playboy "Bridget Jones would love it." —The Scotsman ...
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Does the opening "pling pling plinggg" of Bette Midler’s ‘The Rose’ fill you with existential dread? Do you cringe at the mere whiff of what Phil Collins is spewing ‘In the Air Tonight?’ Have you ever bolted from a restaurant because Celine Dion’s cover of ‘All By Myself’ was threatening to drive you over the edge? Well, turn around, bright eyes – because Tom Reynolds is here with I HATE MYSELF AND WANT TO DIE, a laugh-out-loud-til-you’re sobbing compendium of the world’s most hideously depressing pop songs – and a guide to what makes them so heartwrenchingly, earsplittingly sad and bad. With chapters like ‘I Was a Teenage Car Crash,’ ‘I’m Trying to be Profound and Touching but Really Suck At It,’ ‘Perfect Storms,’ and ‘I Mope, Therefore I Am,’ Reynolds details the history of melodic misery, from the days of Bobby Darin to the era of Evanescence. Complete with a ranked ‘Countdown of Doom’ and wonderfully dreary drawings, I HATE MYSELF AND WANT TO DIE is the one book that fans and foes of woeful tunes won’t want to live without....
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"An alluring mix of humor, bravery, cynicism, and compassion." -- London Daily Telegraph It's the stuff of Grey's Anatomy, House, and ER--only these events aren't unfolding on a Hollywood soundstage. Have you ever wondered what's going on inside the ambulance screaming past you during your rush-hour commute? Since 2003, Tom Reynolds (writing under an alias so as not to get sacked from his job), has kept a blog where he chronicles the day-in, day-out realities of his life on the job as an EMT with the London Ambulance Service. By turns both poignant and profound, Reynolds's writing captures the very essence of life and death. From the mundane to the surreal, from the heartwarming to the cynical, from the calm to the frenetic, more than 300 entries from his popular blog at randomreality.blogware.com are included in the book. Dear Mr. Alcoholic: Would you mind awfully not swearing at me, taking a swing at me, or exposing yourself to me? I have quite enough abuse from the nondrunks out there. . . . Still, at least your fists are easy to dodge, and if I stop holding you up, you fall over. The author's hugely popular blog, Random Acts of Reality, has been named Medgadget Best Medical Blog and Best Literary Medical Blog....
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